CENTRAL FLORIDA INLAND July Fishing Report
Break out your brimmed hats and raincoats forest fishers, summer’s crankin’. The weather get’s a little crazy this time of year; but trust me, the fish are feeding like crazy.
Bass anglers are excited to finally start throwing top-water lures. Weedless plastic frogs work best in our area, because you can swim them through lily pads and other heavy cover. On bluebird sky days, you want to slow down and switch to pitching craws and worms. The sunrise, sunset, and night-bite, will be your best bet during consecutive sunny days. Tip: Have a spinnerbait rigged up and ready for when you find schools of baitfish.
Warmouth often go overlooked out here, which means there are plenty to be caught. I like to bring along a cane-pole or crappie rod when I’m bass fishing, because warmouth live in the same areas that bass do. When I get an aggressive strike on my bass worm, but don’t hook up; I will throw a small crappie jig back in there. Very often, I end up catching a bonus warmouth. If you want to target warmouth specifically, make sure to fish shallow brush-piles (wood) and keep moving slowly down the bank. Warmouth are hard fighters, and one of the best eating fish in the forest. You can find them everywhere out here, but the Ocklawaha River is your best bet for catching good numbers of bigger fish. For shoreside fishers, Sharpes Ferry Bridge has a long walkable bank and plenty of fallen branches to dip a jig into.
Catfish also love the Sharpes Ferry area. A bottom rig works best and chicken livers are the bait of choice. Set out multiple rods and watch your rod tips for subtle bites. The dams at Rodman and Moss Bluff are popular cat-fishing spots as well.
Out on big Lake George, the hybrid stripers have started schooling up on bait pods. There’s a lot of fry around, and the bait population will just keep growing as the year goes on. While hybrid fishing, you also catch largemouth bass and the occasional saltwater fish; like flounder and redfish. Fish the deep water channels with rattletraps and crankbaits. Cruise around looking for bait schools rippling the surface and gamefish blowing them up.
Don’t let the summer heat keep you from getting out on the water. There are plenty of ways to stay comfortable and avoid getting burned; such as fishing rivers for their shade trees, wearing long-sleeved sun-shirts and brimmed hats, or simply taking a dip in the water to cool off. If you have kids, make an effort to plan a family outing. There’s an endless number of cool spots to explore out here. So get outdoors and create some memories.